Regions pay price for inaction on housing

New figures put the cost of an average Auckland home at $800,000 and show large parts of the country facing stagnant or falling property values, Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

“The QV data released today shows residential property values in Auckland have almost doubled, rising 48.1 per cent, since 2007. But house values are falling in 11 regions.

“That equates to house prices in Auckland increasing at a rate of 14.6 per cent a year and a whopping 4.3 per cent in the past three months alone.

“This two track housing market is bad for Auckland and bad for the regions. In Auckland a generation are locked out of the housing market. In many of the regions, homeowners are falling into negative equity.

“It is salt in the wounds of the regions that they have to pay higher interest rates and face LVR 20 per cent minimum deposits because of the Government’s failure to fix the Auckland housing crisis.

“QV has warned house values in many provincial towns are flat or decreasing as LVR restrictions continue to make it difficult for first home buyers to get into the market.

“It’s time for National to take its fingers out of its ears and listen to warnings from economists and the Reserve Bank about the dangers of excessive house prices in our biggest city, and the spill over effects on the regions.

“The Government must stop tinkering, embark on a massive house building programme and crack down on speculators,” Phil Twyford says.